A Vote of Silence
I could not vote in the last elections in Turkey. I approached the voter registrar's desk at the Ataturk International Airport with all my intention to raise my voice in the most democratic sense, but they told me I was registered at the elementary school near our old home and could not vote at the airport. I said "How come? I live abroad and we moved from that address." But there was not much they could do. My green card didn't work there. The city of Istanbul remembered me as a young girl who never left the neighborhood where she grew up.
I was fired up about it. I even mentioned what happened to the poor boy sitting next to me on the plane even though his sleepy eyes and slow droll made it clear to me that he was not as concerned. "It's just one vote..." he kept saying. I suspected he was going to vote for the ruling, Islamic party. "Maybe he is sure of his victory," I thought to myself with disdain and watched four movies in a row to distract myself.
On the election day, I went to Coney Island with G. We walked around the amusement park that will be demolished and rebuilt in the next few years. We hopped on the Wonder Wheel and went all the way to the top. Looking over the Atlantic, I didn't think of home. I was just happy to be upheld by a mass of steel bars...next to G. Everyday happiness, no politics and not much more thinking than what to order at Nathan's. While my parents and brother sided with the secularists several time zones away, I stayed on the beach...didn't tip in the ocean.
My dad was shocked at the results. Islamicist had won with an even greater share of the votes than before. I was not. I was far enough from the country to see that we were a minority in our way of thinking and living. "The intellectual elite no more," were crying the cabbies, the shop owners, the first generation Istanbulis.
G brought a New York Times article to dinner the other night. He thought I might be interested in reading an editorial, titled "Democracy Affirmed." The article applauded the Islamicist party's win and congratulated Turks for going through another election without a military intervention. "A true win for democracy," the author claimed, calling AK Party the most competent government in recent decades pointing to the economic progress of recent years. It should have called them the most adept at organizing grassroots movements and winning votes going door to door. (Maybe the socialist party would have benefited from the same tactics!)
I almost burst into fumes, when I read that the author opined "Muslim Democracy" could and would most surely be the future of Turkey. Who was this person? Who paid him? Did he live in the Upper East or Upper West? DC or Ankara? How did he know so little about Turkey to prophesize as such?
So I wrote down:
"To The Editor:I was disappointed by your non-discerning account ofthe latest Turkish elections. As a modern Turkishwoman, I do not regard the results a win for democracy. This is a dangerous case of mixing ofpolitics and religion.
The grand majority of Turkish population is Muslim andIslam is very much in our cultural fabric. However, civic institutions should not have apreference for faith. Legal and economic issues neednot be addressed from a religious platform. The essence of democracy allows for multiple views andlifestyles to co-habit. Meanwhile, the concept of‘Muslim Democracy’ suggests a particular religious preference will always be the guiding principle in the state’s decision making process.
Before avoiding a military intervention or securing foreign investments, the newly elected officials should assure those of us that didn’t vote for them(more than half the country) that Turkey will continueto rise as a strong, independent, secular force. "
But I didn't send it in... I thought of the unlikely scenario where my letter would get published and someone with a fundamentalist view would track me down to give me an answer. I thought of the other unlikely scenario where I would be accused of threatening the integrity of the State since the Islamic party I questioned was now part of the State.
I thanked G for his encouragement and shared my neurotic thinking. It was a bit embarassing to explain to a bold expressionist that I was choosing silence. But he did understand. He also thought of the Wonder Wheel. Neither one of us wanted the demolition to begin.
I was fired up about it. I even mentioned what happened to the poor boy sitting next to me on the plane even though his sleepy eyes and slow droll made it clear to me that he was not as concerned. "It's just one vote..." he kept saying. I suspected he was going to vote for the ruling, Islamic party. "Maybe he is sure of his victory," I thought to myself with disdain and watched four movies in a row to distract myself.
On the election day, I went to Coney Island with G. We walked around the amusement park that will be demolished and rebuilt in the next few years. We hopped on the Wonder Wheel and went all the way to the top. Looking over the Atlantic, I didn't think of home. I was just happy to be upheld by a mass of steel bars...next to G. Everyday happiness, no politics and not much more thinking than what to order at Nathan's. While my parents and brother sided with the secularists several time zones away, I stayed on the beach...didn't tip in the ocean.
My dad was shocked at the results. Islamicist had won with an even greater share of the votes than before. I was not. I was far enough from the country to see that we were a minority in our way of thinking and living. "The intellectual elite no more," were crying the cabbies, the shop owners, the first generation Istanbulis.
G brought a New York Times article to dinner the other night. He thought I might be interested in reading an editorial, titled "Democracy Affirmed." The article applauded the Islamicist party's win and congratulated Turks for going through another election without a military intervention. "A true win for democracy," the author claimed, calling AK Party the most competent government in recent decades pointing to the economic progress of recent years. It should have called them the most adept at organizing grassroots movements and winning votes going door to door. (Maybe the socialist party would have benefited from the same tactics!)
I almost burst into fumes, when I read that the author opined "Muslim Democracy" could and would most surely be the future of Turkey. Who was this person? Who paid him? Did he live in the Upper East or Upper West? DC or Ankara? How did he know so little about Turkey to prophesize as such?
So I wrote down:
"To The Editor:I was disappointed by your non-discerning account ofthe latest Turkish elections. As a modern Turkishwoman, I do not regard the results a win for democracy. This is a dangerous case of mixing ofpolitics and religion.
The grand majority of Turkish population is Muslim andIslam is very much in our cultural fabric. However, civic institutions should not have apreference for faith. Legal and economic issues neednot be addressed from a religious platform. The essence of democracy allows for multiple views andlifestyles to co-habit. Meanwhile, the concept of‘Muslim Democracy’ suggests a particular religious preference will always be the guiding principle in the state’s decision making process.
Before avoiding a military intervention or securing foreign investments, the newly elected officials should assure those of us that didn’t vote for them(more than half the country) that Turkey will continueto rise as a strong, independent, secular force. "
But I didn't send it in... I thought of the unlikely scenario where my letter would get published and someone with a fundamentalist view would track me down to give me an answer. I thought of the other unlikely scenario where I would be accused of threatening the integrity of the State since the Islamic party I questioned was now part of the State.
I thanked G for his encouragement and shared my neurotic thinking. It was a bit embarassing to explain to a bold expressionist that I was choosing silence. But he did understand. He also thought of the Wonder Wheel. Neither one of us wanted the demolition to begin.
posted by Mimi Media @ 10:47 PM
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